What I mean is, if I get myself the above bike (pretty sure it would fit me), could Mrs 6079SmithW pootle around on it with me for about an hour every other week while I ride my other bike?

Her inside leg is 29″ and the standover height is said to be 30.1″.
Yes the obvious thing would be to get her to try it out first but we’re in different cities for a while.

many will roll along and say YES! or NO! but there is a bit more to it around arm/leg/torso proportions which is generally different with men and women (and generally not generalisable) Scott should be big enough and Medium the common size for her to pop into a local Scott dealer and hop on one to just check. Can she fit on your other bike that might be more of a clue.

Yeah, that might be an idea. But no she’s not tried the other one though I’m pretty sure it’s bigger than a medium Scott

Probably comes down to what you mean by pootle. She’ll be able to ride it on bike paths etc fine. I’m the same hight, but a bloke, so apparently different proportions. My first mtb was a medium and it was ok. But when I got onto a small I suddenly realised how a bike was supposed to fit. It was a revelation!

Would you ‘pootle’ around on a bike that’s too big for you?

Without knowing the details I assume your other half isn’t as experienced as you, get her bike she will feel confident on, mite actually mean she goes out riding more often.

If you tried to get me on a bike that I could straddle the cross bar id kindly tell you to eff off!

She can’t even stand over it? Dream on.

Get a bike with a lower standover, or a smaller one, and swap stems/move saddle to suit you both.

It is the wrong size. If she is smaller than the standover, then almost definatley no. The reach would mean that neck/back/arms would be painful. Would you ride an XL?
Having said that, if she chooses to ride it then that is her choice.
IMO, fit is really important. Similar to above, mrs_oab was ‘converted’ to really enjoying riding when she got a small bike that was a super fit. mrs_oab is 5’1″ BTW, and rides an XS Cannondale.

I am 5’6″ and felt a medium Scott was far too big. Admittedly it was a HT, but Scott seem to have a very long top tube and it was far too stretched to be anything like comfortable. I would think that making her ride that would be a sure fire way to put her off riding…
Maybe that is your aim 😉

I would also say that she needs to try the bike with you there. If she hasn’t ridden much before it will be very hard for her to comment on the fit especially if there is a pushy salesman there at the time.

I’m with the “get the one that fits” team, especially if you are hoping that it gets her interested in biking….

Mrs Rickmeister was advised about a bike by the LBS guy, after a few days, it was clearly the wrong size and no wonder she struggled and only went so we could do something together…

We got a bike that fits properly 15 years ago and now she is shredding this week in Morzine with the Diva Descent girls…

Cant think there is anything less helpful than a badly fitting bike… looking at the standover heights, I would say no to the one you describe…

Would you ride the small? No? Then you’ve answered your own question. Bikes can be shared if teh height difference is no more than about 10cm and you are both of typical proportions. The absence of standover height means not a chance in this case.

I’d consider a used smaller FS or try a longer stem and more seatpost. I commuted for a year on my wife’s small Dawes hybrid with a longer stem and a lot more seatpost. After switching to a much shorter stem (non-aheadset, so no going back really), the bike is now unrideable by me. She’s 8″ shorter than me, so anything is possible!

I’m 5’9″.
The bike purchase is for me cos I want an FS.
It would just be a nice bonus to be able to go about on two wheels together, maybe fire road at the most, not hammering singletrack (just yet). Her current town bike is a Kona with 745mm standover height and that fits fine (frame size 49cm they call it).

Will have a think. A friend who is the same height rides a 16″ Inbred and that looks kinda small but fits, so a Small size FS bike might be even better – however they weren’t available for the model I wanted. I’ve seen Trek Lush’s have super low standover heights.

PS: An inside leg measurement is without shoes.
Put some heels on and you gain more than an inch in standover height.